Friday, October 29, 2010

Amy's Creative Side is holding her 4th quilt festival for all of us to enjoy. This is my first time to join. (I was a few days early and my previous post would not work so I deleted it.) Go to her site and enjoy all the bloggers' quilts!

The quilt I have chosen to show is a quilt made from men's ties.

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"Tapestry"

In 2008 I took a class from a good friend who has made numerous projects using ties, including vests and quilts. I had saved ties for several months, getting them from family, friends and also the good will stores.﻿ They all had to be washed and taken apart. The ones that bled were thrown away. I also saved all the labels on the ties, afterwards deciding to use them on the face of the quilt. Several were from local stores not in business anymore, which is always fun to hear the comments from people remembering them.

The pattern was very easy and no seams were suppose to match because different widths of ties were used, using a specific number of strips in each block.
The pink fabric was from a dress of mine that I had worn twice several years before and still hanging in the closet. (Tell me some of you save those old outfits too!) The quilting was done by a longarmer (also a friend) who did a fantastic job.
After making this, I made the decision that I prefer working with cotton fabric and not the ties. BUT, I enjoy trying new things--you just never know what you WILL like!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

While I was surfing the net and enjoying lots of other blogs I can across this tutorial at Crazy Moms Quilts. This is the quickest thing I've ever done and it's so cute.

I'll leave the detailed instructions at Crazy Mom's site, (she has three different styles) but here are my photos to show the easy steps. And yes, I did do the easiest style. I have other projects on my plate as usual!!

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Two fabrics!

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Everything fits perfectly!

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Two pockets as needed

﻿I love this because it just has interfacing on the fabric, so it is very lightweight! I'm thinking you could use this for lots of things--coupon carrier, small wallet size photo carrier--what else can you think of???

Monday, October 18, 2010

My granddaughter, Paige, who lives in Texas, celebrated her birthday with a party at a Pumpkin Patch. The girls wore their Halloween costumes and they all had a ball, despite the dust. This pumpkin patch had bouncy houses, rides, and a sling shot for gourds/pumpkins, among other things.

Aunt Stacey and cousins, Kayley and Lyndey, went with Papa and I for the weekend. Jake turned 10 the week before and we didn't get to go to his party. I don't think he minded too much, as he was having a "boy party".

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Kelly Jackson, from I Have A Notion just notified me that I was her winner on the giveaway she had in the "Bloggers Giveaway for Fall".

Woohoo, I'm getting a great little jelly roll! And right now I'm really enthused about using those rolls of fabric. Whoever thought up of cutting jelly rolls, charm packs, layer cakes, etc. should be making a mint! To have all the coordinating fabrics together for a project is wonderful. I love them.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I joined the "Candle Mat Swap" at the Quilting Gallery and it is so addictive. So far, I've made three tops. I needed one for the swap and then thought I'd make myself one. Then I thought I need some quick little gifts for Christmas and this pattern is perfect!

The neat thing about this little mat is the size. It's only 14" square, but has 56 pieces in it. That sounds pretty daunting, but it adds such excitement. You can make two mats (tops) with a charm pack and have some left over.

I took a few photos when I made the brown one:

In the first picture you can see I just had the two fabrics in the piano keys. The second picture I added another green--didn't like it as much.

Then I auditioned a square in the middle of the center. I liked it, it tied in the corners, but in the end I decided it wouldn't show when the candle was put on it. So I left it off. Maybe I'll try that on another mat.﻿

What I love about this pattern is the many different ways you can change the look of it by just changing the fabrics in different places--the corners, center, border around the center, piano keys. And that doesn't even count the embellishments you could add, which I haven't ventured into YET!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Today I put the binding and label on my Halloween quilt. It's called "Happy Spooky Halloween".

The pattern and fabric were purchased last year on sale after Halloween. The blocks were on a panel and I just fell in love with the images. So cute. The pattern looks like it would take a while, but the sashing is strip pieced and went together so easily.

I am so lucky that I decided to go through by basket of "WIPs". No, that isn't right, because in that basket are all projects that haven't even been started! One more done, now, though!

Monday, October 4, 2010

A friend that I've known since our daughters were in first grade and we were Blue Bird leaders together has recently found out she has breast cancer. I wanted to do something for her in this very trying time in her life. A mutual friend that does beautiful embroidery, embroidered some pink ribbon blocks for me. I found some fun polka dot fabric and came up with this.

It was a quick pattern, which is what I wanted so I could get it done as soon as possible.

The quilting is meandering and I used pink minky as the backing. It is sooooo soft. I love that stuff! It should be so nice to curl up with, at least that's what I'm hoping for!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

My granddaughter, Paige, became a Brownie last weekend and we were fortunate enough to be there.

On Saturday, she was in the Western Heritage Parade as a Daisy:

(Please forgive the photos!!! Blogger is having problems and not letting me rotate these pictures. So frustrating, but that photo of Paige is just too cute even if you have to look sideways!)

Then on Sunday afternoon they had their "Bridging Ceremony" to become a Brownie. My daughter, Julie, is her leader and does a fantastic job. She comes by that naturally, as I was her BlueBird/Campfire leader!! LOL All kidding aside, she is much better than I was, as she has a FULLTIME job also and manages to squeeze planning and meetings on the weekends.

It was a fun weekend even with the rain that threatened the parade and cancelled two soccer games. We will have to watch Jake another time.

Afterwards, they had pizza and BROWNIES, of course! The girls had a fantastic time, especially with silly string fights. And being a good Brownie, they picked up all their string afterwards. They left the park, just as clean as when they arrived. I was so impressed!

About Me

Wife to the love of my life, Mom to two beautiful professional daughters, and best of all, Nana to four wonderful grandkids! I love to make quilts and there is not enough time in this world to get all of them done that I want to make! (To see the photos better, just click on them). My husband and I recently got a Honda GoldWing Trike which I hope will take me to many quilt stores around the US!!